This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan — between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

As I indicated when I started this project in 2008, I don’t like to intrude on people’s privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they’re still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what’s right in front of me.

I’ve also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting — literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I’ve learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture … after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it’s pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.

Thus far, I’ve generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don’t want to be photographed, and I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. I’m still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We’ll see how it goes …

The only other thing I’ve noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They’re probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I’ve photographed … but there was just nothing memorable about them.

This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan — between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

As I indicated when I started this project in 2008, I don’t like to intrude on people’s privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they’re still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what’s right in front of me.

I’ve also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting — literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I’ve learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture … after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it’s pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.

Thus far, I’ve generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don’t want to be photographed, and I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. I’m still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We’ll see how it goes …

The only other thing I’ve noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They’re probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I’ve photographed … but there was just nothing memorable about them.

Image by DrJohnBullas
BMW Group will present the new, electrically-powered MINI E to the global media for the first time at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 19/20 November 2008. 500 MINI E vehicles will then be shipped to the US states of California, New York and New Jersey for testing with private and corporate customers.
The development of the MINI E underlines BMW Group’s commitment to reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in road traffic, without compromise to the driving experience. The 500 cars bound for North America will offer BMW Group the opportunity to evaluate ownership potential for vehicles supplied with an electric power supply. BMW Group aims to begin series production in the medium term of all-electric vehicles as part of the company’s Number ONE strategy.

The cars will be delivered to customers on a one-year lease with an extension option. Monthly lease installments will cover any required technical service including all necessary maintenance and the replacement of wearing parts. At the end of the lease, all of the automobiles belonging to the project will be returned to the BMW Group’s engineering fleet where they will be subjected to comparative tests.

MINI E specification and performance
The MINI E’s electric drive train produces a peak torque of 220 Nm, and power is delivered to the front wheels via a single-stage helical gearbox. This unique engine and transmission arrangement powers the MINI E seamlessly to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and on to an electronically-limited top speed of 95 mph.

Based on the current MINI Hatch, the car will initially be available as a two-seater. The space normally inhabited by rear passengers is reserved for a lithium-ion battery.

When in use in the zero-emissions MINI, the battery unit combines high output with ample storage capacity and remarkable power output. The lithium-ion storage unit will have a maximum capacity of 35 kilowatt hours (kWh) and transmit energy to the electric motor as direct current at a nominal 380 volts. The rechargeable battery is made up of 5,088 cells grouped into 48 modules. These modules are packaged into three battery elements that are compactly arranged inside the MINI E.

The energy storage unit’s basic components are based on technologies proven in power supply units for mobile phones and portable computers. The MINI E’s lithium-ion battery can be plugged into all standard power outlets. Its charge time is strongly dependent on the voltage and amperage of the electricity flowing through the grid. In the USA, users can recharge a battery that has been completely drained within a very short period of time using a wallbox that will be supplied as standard with every MINI E.

The wallbox will be installed in the customer’s garage, enable higher amperage, and thus provide for extremely short charging times. Wallboxes fully recharge batteries in just two-and-a-half hours. Only lockable garages or similar buildings will qualify as power stations for the MINI E.

Driven by electricity: zero emissions at minimal cost
A full recharge draws a maximum of 28 kilowatt hours of electricity from the grid. Based on the car’s range, a kilowatt hour translates into 5.4 miles. Besides the benefit of zero-emissions driving, the MINI E thus offers significant economic advantages over a vehicle powered by a conventional internal combustion engine.

The heavy-duty battery delivers its power to an electric motor, which is mounted transversely under the MINI E’s bonnet. This power unit is able to unleash its full thrust from a dead standstill and is complemented by its dynamic deceleration potential, which is directly coupled to the accelerator pedal.

As soon as the driver releases the accelerator pedal, the electric motor acts as a generator. This results in braking force, and the power recovered from the kinetic energy is fed back to the battery. This interaction ensures a comfortable and smooth driving experience. In city traffic, some 75 per cent of all deceleration can be done without the brakes. Making substantial use of this energy regeneration feature extends the car’s range by up to 20 percent.

The MINI E’s brake system comes with a newly developed electric pump. Its Electrical Power Assisted Steering (EPS) is the same as the one used in mass-produced MINIs.

The MINI E’s 1,465 kilograms is evenly distributed across the car. Handling safety is ensured by modifications to the suspension system and the car’s Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), which is adapted due this model’s specific wheel loads.

Unique styling to mark out the new MINI E
Every MINI E produced for this pilot project will have the same paintwork and bear a serial number on their front bumpers.

The MINI E’s coachwork features an exclusive combination of metallic Dark Silver on all panels but the roof, which is clad in Pure Silver. What distinguishes the zero-emissions MINI E is a unique logo in Interchange Yellow, depicting a stylized power plug in the shape of an “E” set against a silver background. It has been applied to the roof, in smaller dimensions to the front and back, to the charger port lid, the dashboard trim, and – combined with the MINI logo – to the door jamb, in slightly modified form. The color of the roof edges, mirror housings, interior style cues and seat seams will also match the logo’s yellow hue.

Inside, the central gauge and battery level indicator behind the wheel of the MINI E – which replaces the MINI’s rev counter – feature yellow lettering against a dark grey background. The battery level is displayed in percentage figures. The central gauge includes an LED display indicating power consumption in red and power recuperation in green.

Maintenance by qualified specialists
The electric drive’s high-voltage technology requires that maintenance work be done by qualified personnel using special tools that are not included in MINI service partners’ standard toolboxes. In light of this, a service base will be set up for customers in California, New York and New Jersey, staffed by MINI service engineers that are specially trained to perform maintenance and repair work on the MINI E’s electrical components. In the event of drive malfunction, these experts will provide professional support at the customer’s local MINI dealer or the service base’s specially equipped workshop. Technical inspections will take place after 3,000 miles (just under 5,000 kilometers) and at least after six months.

Production in Oxford and Munich
The MINI E has already gone through the major phases of product development for mass-produced vehicles and passed numerous crash tests on the way. The MINI E’s energy storage unit emerged completely unscathed from all of the crash tests mandated by US standards, which are especially high.

Production of the 500 cars will take place at the company’s Oxford and Munich sites and is scheduled for completion before the end of 2008. MINI’s Plant Oxford will be responsible for manufacturing the entire vehicle on the standard production line, with the exception of the drive components and the lithium-ion battery. The units will then be transferred to a specially equipped manufacturing facility situated on BMW plant premises where the electric motor, battery units, performance electronics and transmission will be integrated.

A cookie to die for !

Image by Mona Loldwoman (Look for the good)
February’s First Challenge
"what can you do with cookies" and please go outside of the box on this one literally!
I stayed outside of the bag.
I haven’t spent this much time on the cookie aisle in 35 years.

I’ve been a little busy this last week preparing for the ‘big’ ice storm, dealing with flickering electricity for three days during ad after the storm, ( trying to stay off the computers for fear of a power surge, even with protectors you can crash a system ) followed by the inevitable power outage, This time for only 39 ¾ hours. The next time we have a spare 0.00 we Are getting a generator. I knew there was a reason I had kept my old battery powered cassette player, We listened to episodes of “The Shadow”, Orson Wells’ “War of the Worlds” and “The Bickersons”. I miss old radio shows. They are so descriptive and allow your mind to really blossom. It was… Fun this time. We were prepared.

My first choice was to photograph a man’s mustache (aka ‘cookie duster’ ). I did not cross pathes with one mustache clad man the day we were running around preparing for the ice storm, being icebound, this is my second choice.

COOKIES ARE EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN.!!! All the good ones contain sugar. Sugar is EVIL.
I paid dearly for That Pie at Thanksgiving. But boy oh boy was it worth it. There are times I would die for an Oreo double stuff.! And occasionally take the risk. Lol.
I allow myself two pieces of sweet a day. My own rules, no medical reason other than a book I read in 1974 called “Sugar Blues”.. That is when I took refined sugar out of my diet .
________________________________________________________________
Surely you know by now, I’m going to have something extra for you.
You really should make time and read the second link. At least go there, mark it and come back to it another day. I have pulled a few key paragraphs and placed them below.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Blues
Sugar Blues
Sugar Blues is a book by William Dufty that was released in 1975 and became a commercial success. According to the publishers, over 1.6 million copies have been printed.
In the book, Dufty makes the case that sugar is an addictive drug, that it is extremely harmful to the human body, and that the sugar industry conspires to keep Americans addicted to sugar.
The book’s central argument is that a small dietary change, eliminating refined sugar, can make a huge difference in how good one is able to feel physically and mentally.
John Lennon was a strong supporter of the book.

One of the most powerful ‘Lobby’ groups in Washington is.
THE NUTRITION FOUNDATION INC,. a front organization for the leading sugar-pushing conglomerates in the food business, including the American Sugar Refining Company, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Curtis Candy Co., General Foods, General Mills, Nestlé Co., Pet Milk Co. and Sunshine Biscuits-about 45 such companies in all.

In the 1930s, a research dentist from Cleveland, Ohio, Dr Weston A. Price, traveled all over the world-from the lands of the remote Alaska to the South Sea Islands, from Africa to New Zealand. His Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects, which is illustrated with hundreds of photographs, was first published in 1939.
Dr Price took the whole world as his laboratory. His devastating conclusion, recorded in horrifying detail in area after area, was simple. People who live under so-called backward primitive conditions had excellent teeth and wonderful general health. They ate natural, unrefined food from their own locale. As soon as refined, sugared foods were imported as a result of contact with "civilization", physical degeneration began in a way that was definitely observable within a single generation.
Any credibility the sugar pushers have is based on our ignorance of works like that of Dr Price. Sugar manufacturers keep trying, hoping and contributing generous research grants to colleges and universities; but the research laboratories never come up with anything solid the manufacturers can use. Invariably, the research results are bad news.

Dextrose, also called "corn sugar", is derived synthetically from starch. Fructose is fruit sugar. Maltose is malt sugar. Lactose is milk sugar. Sucrose is refined sugar made from sugar cane and sugar beet.

"Made from natural ingredients", the television sugar-pushers tell us about product after product. The word "from" is not accented on television. It should be. Even refined sugar is made from natural ingredients. There is nothing new about that. The natural ingredients are cane and beets. But that four-letter word "from" hardly suggests that 90 per cent of the cane and beet have been removed. Heroin, too, could be advertised as being made from natural ingredients. The opium poppy is as natural as the sugar beet. It’s what man does with it that tells the story.
If you want to avoid sugar in the supermarket, there is only one sure way. Don’t buy anything unless it says on the label prominently, in plain English: "No sugar added". Use of the word "carbohydrate" as a "scientific" word for sugar has become a standard defense strategy with sugar pushers and many of their medical apologists. It’s their security blanket.
One lump of sugar in your coffee after a sandwich is enough to turn your stomach into a fermenter. One soda with a hamburger is enough to turn your stomach into a still. Sugar on cereal-whether you buy it already sugared in a box or add it yourself-almost guarantees acid fermentation.

FACTS ABOUT WHITE SUGAR CONSUPTION
The average American consumes an astounding two pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as BREAD, breakfast CEREALl, KETCHUP, MAYONNAISE, PEANUT BUTTER, SPAGETTI SAUCE, and a plethora of microwave meals.
An average American consumes147 pounds of sweeteners each year.
Monoglycerides used in some ice creams are a possible cancer causing agent in test animals.